Useful shellfish-related links and resources

BASIC SHELLFISH INFORMATION

The FishWatch site has great overviews on many species of shellfish and seafood in general. The profiles go into great detail about the science, farming methods, and even nutrition. This is the holy grail of seafood information. Here are a few direct links:

When looking up where an oyster is from, you can simply type the name of the oyster into the search engine, and chances are you'll find results from the two top oyster list sites -- The Oyster Guide and Chef's Resources. Both have great historical facts and location details, but please beware that some numbers may not be up-to-date.

3. The Pangea Shellfish Website

We have a shellfish glossary that defines common industry terms; we have Oysterology® information on all of our oysters; and our blog covers many industry topics and shellfish products in detail. You can click on the "Educational" category on our blog (upper right hand column) to see them all, but below are a few posts that may be most relevant:

INDUSTRY LINKS

The ISSC's site provides a lot of in-depth information on methods, research reports, and is great for the inner-scientist, but what we find most valuable is theupdated list of shellfish area closures. This closure list provides details for why an area is closed, and so it's great for communicating product issues with customers.

Companies on this FDA list have been approved to ship shellfish interstate because they have been inspected and currently meet the FDA's sanitation requirements. Make sure your vendors are on this list. There should be a cause for concern if they are located in another state and not on this list.

Both the Pacific Coast (PCSGA) and East Coast Shellfish Growers Associations (ECSGA) have a wealth of shellfish information on its sites. The PCSGA site may be easier to navigate, but overall, we're huge fans of the Resources, All About Shellfish, and Culinary Guide sections. You'll find some useful info there including production figures, recipes, media links, and even a buying guide.

As a member of the ECSGA, we automatically receive the monthly newsletters, and we love them. Bob Rheault, ECSGA's Executive Director, does an amazing job curating each month's content including industry hot topics, key points on scientific papers, events, and trends. If you're looking to understand the current issues in the shellfish industry, this is one newsletter you need subscribe to.

LIFESTYLE

For beautiful oyster photos, New York oyster guides, and awesome oyster content, you need to check out Julie Qiu's oyster blog. In addition to her oyster profiles (she has tasted over 300 varieties), there's a list of great oyster reads, shucking gear, and lots of tips and oyster know-how's.

After seeing list after list of "Best Raw Bars" from many sites and publications, we found that Food and Wine got it on point. They include some of Boston's best (we're a little bias) and other classics all around the country. If you're looking for oyster recipes, they've got 19 great ways to prepare oysters from premier chefs. Here are some additional shellfish recipes that are pretty good.

Harbor Island has got this list on lock. It is the most comprehensive oyster event list we have found, and they update it pretty frequently (though 2015 events have not been posted yet). Not only do they list the events by state, they also link to the event pages, so you can get all the event info first-hand!

11. Oyster Gear for Commercial and Personal Use

To have great oysters, you need to shuck and present them well. We think the New Haven-style oyster knife is the most versatile, so we sell them on our site, myoysterknife.com, which we also customize for businesses. In terms of shucking boards and plates, the Littledeer Half Sheller ($39) is beautifully carved from one piece of wood. We're also huge fans of R. Murphy oyster knives. In a Half Shell has a pretty good guide on gear, so check her page out, too.

MEDIA LINKS

12. Shellfish Videos

Video is a growing media tool because it jumps out more than words on a page (or screen). With visuals and audio, video can be super impactful for the message you want to convey. Whether you're looking to entertain, educate, or learn, here are some cool shellfish videos to include in your shellfish knowledge library:

No one ever wants to see blurry, grainy photos taken from your cell phone or pay exorbitant amounts of money for stock photos. Well guess what, we at Pangea hear you, so we're releasing the following stock photos below for your use! We would definitely appreciate attribution, but feel free to download, edit, and re-purpose them for your projects!

MAPS & TRACKERS

If you're curious where exactly your oysters are harvested, you can find every state's map of its designated shellfish areas on each state's site. Look at the harvest area code and you should be able to find maps of the area. Since we focus a lot on Massachusetts oysters, we frequent the Mass.gov site a lot. You will be shocked to see how many areas there are in Massachusetts alone. Some harvest areas are so close that the oysters may take on the flavor of the neighboring bay.

15. Weather Trackers

As shellfish growers and shippers, our business depends on the weather, so we track every aspect of it. NOAA's National Weather Service has some great tools for that. If you're as weather-obsessed as we are, check out the NOAA links below:

Pangea Shellfish Company | Oyster and Shellfish Wholesale

Pangea Shelllfish Company is a distinguished oyster and shellfish wholesaler that sells to distributors and raw bars across the US and Canada. We carry over 70 seasonal varieties of oysters throughout the year. Let us put together a winning oyster program for you.